All Stories
Why the escalating conflict in West Asia threatens a global stagflation replay
In Short: Escalating war in West Asia has cut Strait of Hormuz tanker transit by 90 percent, pushing oil prices toward $90 per barrel. This energy shock fuels global inflation, forced central banks to keep interest rates high, depresses emerging market currencies, and slows worldwide economic growth toward a sluggish 2.5 percent.
INDIA Coalition Faces Electoral Dilemma as Asaduddin Owaisi Seeks Entrance Ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections
In Short: Asaduddin Owaisi’s request to join the INDIA coalition for the Uttar Pradesh elections presents a dilemma for opposition parties. Admitting his party risks provoking Hindu voter consolidation behind the BJP, while excluding it threatens to split the crucial anti-BJP Muslim vote, leaving the alliance facing a strategic Catch-22.
Beyond Hormuz: Iran threatens to push the maritime front into the Indian Ocean
In Short:Iran warns that Western escalation could expand the Middle East war into the Indian Ocean, threatening global maritime trade and Asian energy security. By targeting critical sea lanes, long-range targets, or trade chokepoints, Tehran leverages asymmetric deterrence, driving up freight and insurance costs to pressure the United States and its allies.
Clash of the Silicon Titans: The US-China Asymmetric Battle for AI Supremacy
In Short: The United States and China are locked in an asymmetric artificial intelligence war. While America leads in private capital ($286 billion), frontier models, and advanced chip design, China dominates critical mineral supply chains, public infrastructure funding, industrial automation, and power capacity, creating a deeply divided global technological ecosystem.
Friendly Fire: Why the Ruling Coalition in Andhra Pradesh Risks Unraveling in Local Elections
In Short: The TDP–Jana Sena alliance in Andhra Pradesh faces mounting strain ahead of local body elections. Grassroots cadre demand a "friendly fight" to satisfy local political ambitions, but open competition risks dividing their vote share, fueling internal friction, and creating opportunities for the opposition YSRCP to regain lost political ground.
Who Watches the Referees?India’s Supreme Court grapples with how the country chooses its election umpires
In Short:Supreme Court grapples with how the country chooses its election umpires By replacing the Chief Justice with a Cabinet Minister on the selection panel, the legislation gives the executive a two-to-one majority, prompting critical questions over the umpire’s structural independence in the world’s largest democracy.
Cracks in the Umpire’s Mask: Internal Dissents Highlight Deep Conflicts in India's Election Commission
In Short:Internal dissents by two Election Commissioners against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar highlight severe procedural conflicts within India’s Election Commission. Controversies surrounding the Special Intensive Revision—including 13 crore voter roll deletions, unauthorized digital modifications to Form 6, and centralized software overrides—raise serious concerns about executive overreach, transparen
From Bandung to Bharat Mandapam: Reading the Global South's New Charter
In Short: The New Delhi Declaration highlights the Global South’s shift from Bandung's non-aligned solidarity to institutional economic influence, with expanded BRICS representing 41% of global GDP. However, despite financial tools like the New Development Bank, internal divisions, reliance on tentative initiatives, and China’s economic dominance keep agency largely unrealized.
The Sulphur Shock: How Energy Conflicts and Clean Tech Drive Food Inflation
In Short: Food inflation is increasingly driven by rising sulphur prices, a critical fertilizer input. Geopolitical conflicts have disrupted oil and gas refining—the source of 90% of sulphur—while electric vehicle battery production has sharply boosted demand. Higher input costs, coupled with bad weather and biofuel policies, are pushing staple food prices up.
Singing and the State: Why Compulsory Patriotism Undermines the Indian Republic
In Short: India's Supreme Court recently affirmed that individuals declining to sing Vande Mataram on grounds of conscience cannot face criminal penalties. Reaffirming the 1986 Bijoe Emmanuel precedent, the court ruled that respectful silence is protected under fundamental rights, emphasizing that true national unity relies on tolerance rather than coerced patriotism.
A Bitter Pill to Swallow: India’s Supreme Court Confronts the Broken Economics of Drug Pricing
In Short: India’s Supreme Court recently condemned a 900 percent markup on cancer drugs as daylight robbery. This extreme pricing stems from regulatory loopholes, demand driven by doctors rather than consumers, and inflated retail prices that allow hospitals to pocket massive institutional discounts. Addressing this failure requires capping trade margins across all supply chains, enforcing generic quality standards,
Codifying the Urban Common: Karnataka’s Real-Estate Governance Blueprint
In Short:Karnataka’s new housing act strengthens apartment buyers' rights by mandating timely handovers of common spaces, corpus funds, and management to elected owner associations. Requiring full financial disclosures and 75% approval for project alterations, the law creates a dedicated municipal authority to enforce compliance and offers a blueprint for urban governance.
High Stakes Above Low Orbit: America Formally Crosses the Frontier into Space Weaponisation
In Short:The US Air Force has officially acknowledged fielding space control weapons in orbit, officially transforming space into a militarised domain. Spurred by Russian and Chinese capabilities, this deployment sparks fear of orbital escalation. Crucially, the 1967 Outer Space Treaty fails to restrict conventional weapons, leaving space infrastructure vulnerable without updated international agreements.
India’s Looming Paddy Predicament
In Short:India faces a severe 10-million-ton rice deficit driven by El Niño monsoons and low reservoir levels. Despite large buffer stocks, mismatched grain varieties and biofuel allocations limit relief. Structural yield losses threaten national food security, escalate global trade instability, and trigger food inflation, highlighting the need for urgent agricultural reform.
Moscow’s Long Game:Western Illusions and Russian Realities
In Short:Contrary to Western expectations, sanctions and conflict have not weakened Vladimir Putin’s regime. United Russia secured 355 State Duma seats, solidifying domestic control. With a stabilized economy, strategic partnerships via BRICS and China, and failed predictions of internal revolt, the Kremlin has successfully resisted isolation and adapted to pressure.
Trustees and Technocrats: The Governance Dilemma at Bombay House
In Short: A century-old governance structure pits the philanthropic Tata Trusts against executive leadership over control of Tata Sons. Central bank mandates requiring a public listing, combined with internal disputes over voting rights and capital allocation between charitable dividends and high-growth technology investments, threaten the stability of India’s largest corporate empire.
Doomer and Gloomer: Anatomy of a Silicon Valley Panic
In Short: Facing rising costs, debt, and low-cost Chinese open-source competition, American AI leaders are using hype around existential risks to lobby for strict regulations. Under the guise of safety, proposed rules like mandatory certificates and antitrust waivers aim to create an incumbent oligopoly, shielding top firms from real liability and market competition.
The Great Equities Illusion: The stark reality behind India’s stock market boom
In Short: Despite popular belief in stock market riches, empirical data reveals that broad equity investments frequently underperform risk-free bank and postal deposits. Driven by speculative hype and corporate demand for cheap capital, millions of retail investors face extreme return inequality, with over half lagging behind traditional fixed-income savings during bull markets.
Uncle Sam’s Debt Spiral: How America’s gross national debt has surpassed economic growth
In Short: America’s debt has passed $40 trillion, growing faster than its GDP. Driven by expanding defense spending, mandatory entitlements, and corporate tax cuts, the federal deficit has reached 6%. High interest rates make refinancing short-term debt costly, creating a self-reinforcing debt spiral that severely restricts Washington's future economic options.
An Ax Across the Atlantic: Why Canada is Eyeing Europe
In Short: Driven by aggressive American tariffs and sovereignty threats under Donald Trump, Canada is exploring an associate membership with the European Union. Facing shared geopolitical pressure, Ottawa and Brussels are seeking closer ties, though legal hurdles, unanimity requirements, and geographic realities make formal EU integration a complex prospect for middle powers.